Confused With Roborovski Colours?

[Cathii]

I'm really confused...
Okaii, so I know the normal one is the agouti (also known as normal, wild or natural), and I know what it looks like.
But then come the other breeds- i need help distinguishing them.
White faced and white masked are the same? But is husky another word for white faced or a different colour, because I have always heard it is the same. If it's a different colour, please tell me what both those types of robos look like!
...I have a husky (bought as 'Husky') robo dwarf hamster, Salt (in my avatar and signature) with a white face and a lighter, slightly more greyish back than the normal ones.

Thanks in advance )

[Erin Loves Dwarf Hamsters]

My Trevor is a Husky, and yeah they are a different coat colour to White Faced
The main difference is in the genetics, the Husky has a recessive white faced gene and the white faced has a dominant white faced gene. This makes their appearance slightly different although it can be difficult to tell them apart unless you have two next to each other

When compared to agoutis you can see they both have the typical white face and the slightly shrunken coloured area (the brown/slate bit) but on a husky robo the coloured area is more washed out, pale and looks more orange than brown.
On the white faced however the coat is the same colour as an agoutis perhaps slightly paler but usually they just look like agoutis with white faces, whereas the Husky is noticeably different

If you want some more info on the other coat colours in robos this is the best place to look - Oak Farm Rabbits and Rodents

[Cathii]

Thanks so much! Really useful!
It's so annoying, I could list loads of websites that have said they are the same colour. I've actually never seen one that has the correct colour types - except the Oak Farm one. Your website it lovely, by the way! Good luck with your planned breeding

[Erin Loves Dwarf Hamsters]

Yeah it annoys me when I read people saying that they are the same! I learned all my knowledge on coat colours from Oak Farm and I trust it because I know Tammy is part of the breeding programs that introduce and study new coat colours in robos so she has seen a lot of the colours in person
Also thank you! I'm getting excited now as I've waited so so long to breed robos and I'm moving the room around so that I will have space for the breeding cages etc. Getting the pair in the shows this summer so I hope I can breed them in late Feb early March next year. I already have names for the babies I want to keep, 2 females but the problem is they are all being named after psychologist and there are only 3 well known women ones and their surnames are quite inappropriate to give to hammies so they are having boy names!

[Pompompoms]

I actually can't wait for your babies either, I will be obsessed with your breeding thread

I'm planning my next breeding either in the late summer or early spring next year, we could have some born at the same time

The colouring is a strange one, despite there being ample photos and accounts of the different types of robo now, there are quite a lot of sites still that are claiming only Agouti and husky, with husky fading to white.

Tammy's site is fantastic, I'm just a little biased about the white babies mentioned at the bottom

[Erin Loves Dwarf Hamsters]

Oh my whiskers Poms that would be awesome! Lol HC would be over run with robo pups!!! And I'm sure you'll be forgiven for being bias about those little beauts!

[Kissa]

Originally Posted by Erin Loves Dwarf Hamsters

If you want some more info on the other coat colours in robos this is the best place to look - Oak Farm Rabbits and Rodents

I've learned so much from that website I love the fact that new genes are being discovered, it appeals to my inner biologist (Actually wish I could help, but I don't have the time or the space... and the boyfriend would probably hate me )

[racinghamster]

I echo the sentiment about the Oak Farm Rodents website. It covers the roborovski topics so well and it`s one site I have earmarked for reference! I have to say the white robos are gorgeous, but if it means birth defects or genetics issues, I would rather they remained `rare`. I like to see these rare white babies appear naturally, as nature intends as a `freak of nature`, but if it means messing around with the gene pool, I`m not sure it would harm the species in captivity. I don`t know for sure how breeders go about producing white roborovskis?

[Pompompoms]

Tammy is far better placed to help you with the specific genetics in great detail as that is her and Wessex hams (both of whom I did the white breeding program with) real area of expertise. Hopefully she will see the thread, if not, drop her a pm and I'm sure she'd be happy to help you understand further how much care effort has gone into breeding the white gene out, then back in again to ensure the health of the line is the top priority. White on white breeding could have been done straight away as Tammy had white girls, an I a white boy, but the whole point of the exercise was careful selective breeding as I say with health as the priority.


I am happy to report though for everyone's interest that through this careful breeding, we are on the fourth generation of whites with no birth defects, or signs of genetic issues. Only one of the whites has passed on, and that was the original boy used to start the program my ham The Cloud. He was just short of two and a half when he passed, a great age for a robo. The oldest of the next generation are only one and a half at the moment, and all going strong.

[racinghamster]

That`s good to know Pompoms, thanks for adding that. It would be a lovely addition to have white roborovskis (I`m a bit of a white rodent fan at the best of times!) but I know sometimes white on white can mean big genetic problems in some species which is why I mentioned my concerns, but it does seem that the `good` breeders have the best intentions with this and it`s wonderful to hear that four generations have survived well without any major problems. I wish the mouse fancy were so stringent but sadly, they are more concerned about getting perfection with coat markings rather than health.

I`ve been considering a robo (rescue) for a while now so the chances are he/she will just be a normal coat colour but it`s not uncommon to find the lighter faced robos or mottled ones these days.